Filter



Patented May2, 1944 FILTER William Paterson and Oscar Carl Kerrison, London, England Application January 17,1940. serialNu. 314g313 In Great Britain December 31, 1938 v l 14 Claims. This invention relates to filters of thev type in which the filtering mediumconsists of sllicious earth,vkleselguhr, or similar material deposited from suspension in the liquid to be iltered on to a porous or metallic support, such filters being primarily intended for relatively small water supplies or for filtering oil or other liquids.

With such illters it is known thatvfor an interval of time whilst the bed is forming and Acornpacting on its support a volume of impure liquid passes the filter and tends to form a deposit in the lnterstices or pores of the metallic or porous support, gradually oiering increased resistance to ow in addition to that resistance expected to be oered bythe filter bed, until a time is reached when the lter support must be dismantled for cleaning. Moreover, the impure liquid discharged during such formation and compacting of the lter bed must be diverted to waste by the manipulation.v of suitable valves to avoid contamination of the liquid already ltermed.

a further defect of the type of filter having? interstices or pores in the illter bed support upon or within which organic matter may deposit during commencement of the filtration process is that such organic matter may become the pabulumofor bacteria which may recontami- L nate the ltered liquid unless a Sterilisation process is applied to the liquid after filtration. Such post-ltration Sterilisation may give rise to the production of taste in the filtrate.

One object of the present invention is to providehan improved lter of this 'time in which ilne ltering substance or other impurity insuspension. v

It is also an object of the 'present invention to provide a lter of the type described in which a process of Sterilisation may. ii desired; be applied to the liquid before Afiltration and any excess of sterilant be 'removed by the nltering medium without danger of after-contamination or the production of taste. t

The invention consists ln -a lter of the' kind referred to in which the support for the ilterin' wl. 21o-16s) cage or former with a clearance between adjacent turns suiilciently small to ensure that the filtering medium will not pass through but will form a compact bed or layer on the surface of the helix, the cross-sectional shape of the wire being such` asl to ensure a minimum depth ofinterstice and a maximum self-cleaning effect.

The invention also consists in a filter according to the vpreceding paragraph in which there is a secondary outer layer of helically wound wire which may be of larger cross-section and with a larger clearance between adjacent turns, such outer helix giving additional stability to the lter bed and vat the same timeforming a supl port for an outerV iilter bed superimposed directly upon the inner filtering bed. A release of pressure of the liquid on the inlet side of the filter bed, effecting a slight reversal of flow through the ilter from outlet to inlet, causes face with a minimum disturbanceof, the ltra` tion eect.v With the object of aiding the detachment of the outer filtering bed the outer winding is preferably in the form of a helix separated by a small space fromthe inner winding, suchouter helix being reinforced by wires or strips outwardly aillxed at'intervals inthe direction of the axis oi the helix and serving to c'ut the outer bed into segments, which readily detach themselves and slide on when required 'on cessation of theilltering process, with substantially little interference with the inner illtering bed.- On resumption of the filtration process the outer bed is reformed as a new filtering Further, with a view to facilitating the break- 40 down'and -re-establishment of the filtering bed, it may' be arranged that on or immediately after the closing' of the, inlet valve a relief to waste is opened on the inlet side of the filter, causing a reduction of' pressure which tends to enable ed the filtering medium to. fall away from the support `against; which it has been compacted during the filtration process by the .preponderance 4 of the inlet pressure. It may be arranged that so filter support aiding the detachment of the fllterinlet chamber in a, suitable position fon-its re-v not'ation and recompa'cting on the support when the inlet valve is reopened. This effect can'be A l bed isformed of wire wound helically` upon a conveniently, secured by arranging that the a'ctl there is a slight reverse ow of liquid through the ing material` which falls to the bottom of the .ingoithe o! illtering unit or element, and

ure2.

` form our improved `toteiilteredis n the outlet c ior thousandths oi an inch relief and ii desired closes it again after the interval of time necessary to eilect detachment of the bed.

On re-opening the inlet valve the entering liquid re-iloats and re-iorms the bed on the support. This end is accomplished by shaping the A bottom in the i'ormoi' a pocket in which mate-V rial from the disintegrated nlter bed will be caught and providing an inlet ior liquid to be filtered positioned to discharge into the bottom of the pocket. By this means the opening of the inlet valve causes the entering liquid to pick up the disintegrated filter material, to resuspend it in the liquid and to readilyv reform the mate- I Y rial into a bed upon the support.

object is ensured by arranging that the closing of the inlet valve, either directly or indirectly through fall of pressure, opens a by-pass valve on the illter outlet trom which the ilrst nitrate discharges. This remains in the open position for the interval oi time necessary to ensure that the filtrate has reached'the required standard of purity. With a high rate of ilow this standard maybe reached in a few seconds. but at lower rates of ilow it may take'one or two minutes for the bed to be compacted, and the by-pass valve closing gear may be arrang to be adjustable over the necessary periodof e to meet all conditions.

Onel convenient way of eilecting this is to utilise the drop o! pressure resulting from the openillter to eifect theopening of the by-pass. which remains in the open position until the re-establishment of theiiltering process'eilects a gradual closing ot this valve.

`It must be understood, however, that in place l of relying onva diilerence'of pressure to operate'the closing of the by-pass any other convenient means maybe adopted.

.Further features oi the invention will be ap' parent from the description given hereafter.

`i'he accompanying drawings illustrate -two modes oi carrying out the invention: Y Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the layout o! one form or illtering apparatus in accordance with the invention:

Figure 211s a view showing alternative form mguretiisasectiononthe In carrying our invention into eiiect in one convenient manner. as shown in. Figure- 1, we

illter'with an external casing a of asisc andshapc purpose ior which the illter is required. and having a pocket-like lower end clinto which liquid discharged by the extremity b1 Within this container and sepb for liquid to be illtered from iiltered liquid, we arrange our iilter support d .which consists of wire of, say, 1hath oi an inch. diameter wound in the form oi a helix'ihaving a clearance of. say, one or two between adjacent turns, that these details it bein der-stood, however.

s un and that the 'size are by way oi example only? relief valve on the inlet side of thel depending upon the A of closing the inlet valve automatically opens the and cross-sectional shape of the wirev and the clearance between adjacent turns may be varied to suit any givenrequirements. As shown in the drawings we prefer to use a relatively large number oi juxtaposed ribs for the core. Figure 3 shows sixteen such ribs. It will be understood that the number may vary depending on the size ofthe unit. However, even in the smallest units the number should be :tive or six, or more. As is well known in the-art, the filter bed support is subjected to pressures of from 50 pounds to 100 pounds per. square inch. It is therefore necessary to avoid spans of anyconsiderable length between ribs in order to avoid deiorming the wire due to such pressures. It is also desirable to have a large number oi ribs in order to avoid sharp angles in the wire wound on the core. Clearly there is a greater possibility 0f ruliiuringr the wire if' there were only four ribs and right angle turns in the wire wound thereon. than li the number of ribs is increased and the angles enlarged.

In operation, a certain amount oi kieselguhr or like material is introduced into the container 25 or is `introduced into the supply of water or other liquid to be filtered (as by the charging funnel.

clean or renew the filtering medium or to clean the wire screen, the nowf so that the kleselguhrof liquid may be reversed is detached from the screen and it may. either be. allowed to re-form the bed or it may be removed (as through the waste tap f) and a fresh supply l introduced. 40

also be aided by `ai current oi water introduced .at the uppermost part of the illter and4 caused to ilow illmwise downwardly along the lengthv of A the lter support, this being conveniently effect- 4s ed by a connection a delivering the liquid above Vthe plate hby which Under certain conditions p not to cause the whole oi the illtering material to be detached from its support and in order to so obviate this we may arrange around the supporting screen a second layer i (Figure 2) of wire oi. say, 18-gauge with a larger clearance betweenl adjacent turns upon which an outer filter bed may be deposited..

through theillter support will cause this secondary lter bed to be detached from the outer winding withoutmaterial disturbance of the innerI I illter bed so permitting resumption oi the iiltering process with a minimum waste clarified water. Longitudinal wires or strips Ic ot metal or other suitable materialaiiixed to the outer winding serve to reinforce this and also. y to divide the outer illtering bed into segmental detached by a slight reversal ot now or by gravity when the illtration the wire can be wound 70 other former the ing uniform deposition of the filtering material.

The cage or former may be constructed oi 'Il longitudinal rods of metal or other material or The detachment oi the illtering medium mayl the nlmwise ilow is directed.

it may be preferable.`

A slight reversal of flow 0f partially for the inner and outer but not necessarily, of cir-v uniform dis--vI by means of the discharge provided at c.

as .shown in the drawings it may consist of apertured sleeve having ribs l thereon round which the wire is wound helically. 'I'he illter unit may lbe associated with an inner filtering tube of ceramic or other porous material or in some cases such a tube of ceramic or other porous material may be'formedwith external ribs or proiections over which the wire is wound to form the cage or former for the kieselguhr or the like.

It will be clearthat we may vary the material chosen 'for our filter bed support. the manner l in which itis wound on its former and the number of concentric layers constituting the support depending upon any practical requirements that may have to be i'uliilled.v

Further with a view to automatically by-passing the iirst illtrate we may arrange the illter with two alternative outlets, one m by-passing to waste (or as may be required) and the other c discharging -fully iiltered liquid to supply. A

valve n controlling the by-pass outlet is arranged to be openedI automatically when the filtration process ceases, and closed automatically at an adjustable period of time after iiltration has re commenced. In carrying this into effect in one l convenient manner we provide on the outlet side of the lter a chamber o divided by `an elastic diaphragm p into an upper and a lower compartment, each separated from the other. To the upper of these compartments unfiltered liq`- uid tapped `i'rom the inlet pipe to the illter at a point after the' inlet valve (as by the'pipe q) is admitted at a rate controlled' by a needle valve 'or other suitable means r. 'I he lower compartthe by-pass outlet, after which periodo! time the now fully filtered water passes into supply the closing of the inlet valve and opening of a relief valve on the inlet side of the filter. J or 1"-, the pressure on the diaphragm in the upper chamber is released andthe diaphragm returns to its position of rest causing the by-pass outlet m to be. opened in readiness for discharging to waste or as may be required on the resumption of the filtration process. The action of the diaphragm may be aided or retarded by aspring sv or other convenient means and where the fully ltered liquid is not required to discharge againstl head a-loaded valve may be inserted in the illtered water outlet. pipe to give the requisite backv able material aslfor example. activated carbon having thefpropeigty oi removing an excess of sterilant previously added to the uniiltered liquid. In this manner the liquid to be illtered may be treated with an` excess of sterilising agent without fear of the development of taste or odour in the nitrate and without the danger of afteroontamination. l

We claim:

1. A illter unit comprising a casing adapted tol permit a ilowof liquid therethrough, a liquid inlet communicating with the casing, means for introducing ltering'material into the ilow of liquid passing into said casing, means for supporting a'lter bed composedv of nltering material so introduced within said casing and across the iiow of the liquid therethrough, means for washing said illtering material from said lter bed supporting means, means in the form of a pocket Ibelow said bed supporting means for holding said removed illtering material, said inlet discharging into the bottom o! said pocket@ filtered liquid outlet from said casing, and means for removing iiltering material from said casing.

2. A illter unit comprising a casing, thebot-l tom of said casing being' shaped totorm a pocket, an inlet for iluid to said casing discharging directly into said pocket, an outlet for uid from said casing, a lter bed support mounted in said l casing between said inlet and said outlet, said support consisting of a' rigidl cage closed at one end and open for iiuid ilow 'at the other and having a wire helically wound thereon, means for supplying nlter bed material to said casing, a waste discharge from said casing, and means to direct a ilow ofl wash water against the outside oi' said iilter bed support.

3. A-1ter unit comprising a depression in the bottom of pocket-like form, a waste discharge leading from said depression, a raw water inlet discharging into the bottom of said depression, a ltered water outlet from said c asing, a iilter bed support-mounted in said casing across the dow of water therethrough from, said inlet to said outlet, said support comprising a ribbed core upon which is helically wound and fixed wire with a clearance between the adjacent turns suiilciently small to hold a filter bed formed thereon ot discrete particles, and means to form and reform a nlter bed thereon, said means including said depression and said inlet and indischarge to supply as the by-pass is closed. It

will be understood that the references to upper and lower compartments, diaphragms and the like are by way of illustration only and any other convenient means of control or operation may bed" designates such filtering material supported on a permeable support. i

Further in any modification of our invention we may substitute for or incorporate or associe ate with the filtering material any other suitcluding means for delivering iilter b ed ,forming material as discrete particles into'said casing.

'a' 4casing having t 4. A illte'r unit comprising a. vcasing 'provided with a bottom shaped to form a pocket, an inlet into said casing discharging into said pocket,

said inlet being positioned to direct the discharge therefrom into, the lower part of'said pocket'. an

outlet from said casing, a iilter bed support body upon which is helically wound wire with a clearance between adjacent turns sumciently small to hold a nlter bed in the form of a layer of discrete'particles hydraulically deposited directly on said wim-means for supplying iilter bed v material to said casing. and a waste discharge to the inlet to said casing.

5. A filter unit comprising a casing provided with Va bottom shapedto form a pocket, an inlet into said casing discharging'lnto said pocket, an f outlet from said casing. a filter bed support mounted within said casing and connected to said outlet, said tllter bled support comprising a'ribbed 4. core upon which is helically wound wire witha clearance between adjacent turns sumciently- -small to hold iiltering material, and a second helloallywonmdcoiloiwirerigldlyheidinspaced relationship around the first-'mentioned-helically wound wire. the second-mentioned helioally wound wire being rigidly securedito rigid longitudinal ribs and having Aa greater clearance be-` tween adjacent turns than the mst-mentioned helically wound wire, means forv supplying nlter bed material to -said casing. and a waste discharge from the pocket oi said casing.

6. manlterunitortheknddescribedinclaim 3 means for facilitating the removal of filtering material from said iilter bed support, comprising means for passing a nlm of liquid downwardly over the outer surface of the nlter bed support.

'L In a iilter unit comprising a casing provided with' a bottom shaped to i'orm apocket, an inlet into said casing discharging into said pocket. 'the discharge opening or said inlet facing downwardly toward the lowest point in said pocket, an outlet from sald'casing, means for supplying filter bed material to said casing, a waste discharge from said casing, a filter bed support vertically mounted in said casing comprising a ribbed core upon which is helically wound tine wire with a clearance between adjacent turns sumciently small to prevent passage of filter bed material therethrough, means for facilitating removal oi l totheinletor saidcasmg.

9. Aillter unit according to claim 3 having means for automatically bypassing to waste the liquid ilrst passing through said nlter on the commencement o! filtration. comprising a pressure operated valve in said outlet normally open to `waste, a conduit connnecting said valve to sai inlet anda valve on said conduit.l

10. A iilter according to claim 3 having means for automatically bypassing to waste the liquid first passing through said filter on thecommencement oi' iiltration. said means comprising a valve in said outlet normally open to waste, a

valve actuating means connected to said vvalve,

said valve actuating means comprising aprossure 5s gbed while retaining the iiushed material in the responsive device, oneside ot which is connected 'l w the outlet and the other side by a restricted conduit to the inlet into said illter casing. said;

connection between said chamber and said inlet v being provided with an adjustable valve means.

l1. In a nlter unit comprising a casing having a hopper shaped bottom. an inlet for liquid to be 'l illtered, an outlet foi-'filtered liquid, means for 10 terial 50. 'ing the water in said stream through said illter ,9 mw towaste.

mplrillglteringmateriaiintheiormoidiscrete particleaancutletior spent filtering materlal. anlterbed SIIDDOrtwithin said casing across the now oi liquid therethrough compris- 5 ingia vertical ribbed core upon which coreis helically` wound ilne wire with clearance between adjacent turns .suiiiciently small to prevent passage oi nltering material therethrough connected to said outlet, means for removing filtering mameans for directing' an annular iilm o! water downwardly over the outside oi said nlter bed support, said last named means comprising an annular slot surrounding the upper part of -said core, and means for resuspending said iiltering material in liquid passing through said casing comprising a pocket in the bottom of said casing adapted to catch filtering material removed from said filter bed support and means for discharging the liquid to be iiltered downwardly against the bottom of said pocket.

12. The method of disintegrating a bed oi n1- tering material supported on a substantially vertical filter bed support within a filter and reforming the same on the nlter bed support comprising nrst nowing a tllm of liquid downwardly over the outer surface .oi said illter bed and subsequently directing the ilow or liquid to be iiltexjeclI upon y said disintegratedillter bed. i. a

13. `In the clarification o! turbidwater by nltration through illter material in the form oi a bed composed of discrete particles of absorbent material. which filter material is supported on a ilxed permeable supporting member, the steps of filtered', depositing said material on said supporting member by passage oi said water through 4i) lthen redepositing the disintegrated bed on said member by a further passage or water to be illtered through said member. v

.14.' I'he process oi illtering turbid water by means of illtering material suspendable in said water and a vpermeable supporting bed for said material consisting in introducing the suspendable filtering material into a stream oi said water and passing said stream through said permeable bed, retaining said nltering material on said supporting bed t0 iorm therewith a lter bed, iilterbed until anoperative limit ior said lter bed is reached. then interrupting said stream and flushing said filtering material from said supporting path of said stream. then renewing said stream and resuspending said material therein and redepositing same on said supporting bed to reform said iilter bed, and eventually ilushing said ma- WILLIAM Ps'masoN. oscars cam. xnnRIsoN;

from said nlter bed support comprising.

introducing said iilter material into water to be- Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,347,927 May 2, 1944 WILLIAM PATERSON ET AL.

' It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Page 3, second column, line 69, strike out the Words to the inlet to and insert instead from the poc/cet of;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, so that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 28th day of November, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Commissioner of Patents. 

